What You're Actually Looking At When You See Mac Chipper Shredder For Sale Craigslist
A Mac chipper shredder is a piece of heavy landscape equipment. The brand has been around for decades. They make two main types: disc chips that handle branches, and drum chippers with knives for wet or tough material. When you see one listed on Craigslist, it could be anything from a well-maintained towable unit someone uses twice a year to a machine someone is selling because it won't start and they don't want to deal with it. Your job is figuring out which one without driving across town blindly. I bought a used Mac MP1015 once from a place about forty miles from my house. I was warned by other landscapers to always check the chipper bed and the feeder housing before committing. They're right. Here's what that actually looks like in practice. First, look at the discharge chute. If there's deep scoring or wear on the steel plate inside the chute, that means someone was feeding green wood with nails or wire in it regularly. A new replacement plate for a Mac 1015 runs roughly four hundred to six hundred dollars depending on where you order it. That's a real cost to factor in before you even haggle.
Second, check the rotor. On Mac disc chippers, the disc is bolted to a central hub. Spin it by hand. It should rotate freely without binding or grinding. If it feels rough, the bearings are going. Bearing replacement on these machines isn't trivial. You're looking at two to four hours of labor minimum, and the parts alone run a couple hundred. A good seller will tell you if the bearings have been serviced recently. If they don't mention it, assume they haven't. Third, the PTO shaft. Most Mac chipper shredders in the residential and light commercial range are PTO-driven. That means they hook directly to a tractor's power takeoff. Inspect the PTO shaft for bending, worn splines, or cracked universal joints. A replacement PTO shaft for a Mac unit runs eight hundred to twelve hundred dollars new. If the seller's tractor doesn't have a Category 1 PTO with a free-wheeling clutch, you're going to need one too. Factor that into your budget immediately. I learned this the hard way on my second used buy. Fourth, look at the knife condition. On disc chippers, the cutter knives sit on the face of the rotating disc. They should have sharp, clean edges. Dull knives don't just make worse chips. They put more strain on your tractor's PTO, which can cause overheating and premature failure of the tractor's hydraulic system if you're running a wet-clutch PTO. Mac knives are available from multiple third-party suppliers. Don't assume you need to order direct from Mac. A set of aftermarket knives for a 1015 can run two hundred to three hundred dollars instead of the four hundred plus the Mac OEM price.
The fifth thing nobody talks about enough is the feed table and its rollers. The hydraulic feed rolls pull branches into the cutting chamber. If the rollers are glazed over or the hydraulics that control the roll pressure are leaking, you'll spend half your day trying to jam branches in by hand. Check that the feed roll control valve on the side of the machine moves freely and that there's no hydraulic fluid seeping from the cylinder where the rolls attach. A rebuild kit for those cylinders runs about two hundred fifty dollars in parts. Here's a specific scenario I ran into: I was at a seller's property looking at a Mac chipper that had been sitting outside under a cover for about five years. The seller said it ran fine. It did run, but the chip size was inconsistent. I traced it back to the adjustable chip thickness gauge on the discharge chute. The mechanism was corroded in place. I couldn't adjust it at all. I ended up removing the chute, soaking the bolts in penetrating oil for an hour, and then using a cheater bar on the wrench. Took twenty minutes and I got it moving. If I hadn't tested that adjustment before buying, I'd have loaded the machine onto my trailer and then been stuck figuring out why every load of brush came out as oversized slabs instead of clean chips. That happens often with used machines stored outdoors. The adjustment screws corrode. Budget an afternoon of work if you buy a covered-but-not-indoored unit.
Get the Full Details
How to Know If the Price Is Reasonable
A Mac MP1015 in decent running condition typically lists between three thousand and five thousand dollars on Craigslist, depending on age, hours, and whether it includes a functional tractor. A Mac 1520, which is a heavier towable commercial unit, usually goes for six thousand to ten thousand. Anything under two thousand for a 1015 is either a project or someone is lying about something. There's almost never a true deal at that price point. The machining and weld work on these frames is substantial. Even a dead Mac with a bad engine or crushed housing still has scrap and salvage value that eats up most of that two-thousand-dollar floor. If you find one listed near the top of the price range, ask for the serial number and date code. Mac stamped the model and year information on a tag near the feed hopper. You can call Mac support with that number and get a basic service history if the previous owner ever registered it. It's not a detailed log, but it'll tell you if the machine had a major repair done within the last five years. That alone can be worth the asking price premium.
What Craigslist Listing Details Actually Matter
Most sellers on Craigslist describe their chipper shredder with vague language. They say things like runs great, needs nothing, or perfect condition. Those phrases mean almost nothing. What matters is the PTO type, the engine hours if it has an integral engine, the condition of the chip drum or disc, and whether the chute and feed table are included intact. Ask the seller directly: when was the last time the knives were rotated or replaced, and do the feed rollers cycle up and down smoothly? A seller who knows the machine will answer both questions quickly. A seller who evades either one is likely covering up a problem. Also check whether the listing includes the original manual. Mac manuals are not impossible to find online, but having the physical copy means you can reference torque specs, fluid capacities, and adjustment procedures without digging through forums. I keep a printed manual in my truck for every piece of equipment I buy used. It took me about ten minutes to find mine once and it saved me from stripping a bolt on the feed table assembly during a rebuild.
Transport and Setup Considerations
A Mac 1015 weighs roughly thirteen hundred pounds empty. You need a trailer rated for at least fifteen hundred pounds and a vehicle with a towing capacity above that. If you're buying from a seller who won't deliver, you need to arrange transport ahead of time. A U-Haul trailer and a pickup truck will work. A sedan will not. The hitch class matters too. You need at least a Class II hitch, preferably Class III, with a weight-distribution system if the trailer tongue weight approaches four hundred pounds, which it often does once the chipper is loaded. Once you get it home, set it on level ground before you attach it to your tractor. The machine needs to sit flat so the feed table is level and the discharge chute angles correctly. An uneven surface throws off the chip pattern and puts lateral stress on the PTO driveline. I've seen people try to operate a Mac chipper off a sloped driveway and end up with a blown PTO shaft guard and a pile of chips twenty feet to the left of the discharge because the unit was tilted enough to shift the material flow. It's a simple thing to overlook in the excitement of a purchase.
When to Walk Away
If the seller can't produce the serial number, avoid the listing. It could be stolen equipment. Craigslist has a history of stolen tool listings, and a chipper shredder is a high-ticket item that's difficult to trace once it changes hands twice. If the seller insists on meeting in a parking lot and won't let you inspect the machine under its own power, that's a red flag. A working chipper should spin up and chip wood within thirty seconds of engaging the PTO. If the seller says it needs to warm up or they haven't started it in months, that's another signal. Hydraulic systems seal and dry out. Starting a dormant machine after it's sat for a long time can blow seals on the first cycle. Plan for that cost whether you buy from this seller or the next one. Some chipper shredders listed on Craigslist are bait-and-switch listings with prices too good to be real. If a Mac 1520 is listed for eight hundred dollars with high-resolution photos and zero description, delete it. Move on. There's no deal there. Those listings exist to collect your phone number or email. The legitimate listings are the ones with some wear visible in the photos, modest descriptions, and a seller who answers specific questions about the machine's history without getting defensive.
Alternatives If Craigslist Isn't Working Out
If you can't find a reliable Mac chipper on Craigslist, check with local landscape companies that are upgrading their fleet. They sometimes sell used equipment directly without listing it online. Facebook Marketplace has a smaller but sometimes more serious selection, since the accounts are tied to real identities. Auction sites like RitchieBank or local farm equipment auctions occasionally have Mac units from estates or business liquidations. The bidding can push prices above retail, but you also get the benefit of seeing the machine run on-site before you commit, which eliminates the biggest risk of buying any used power equipment sight unseen. Buying a used Mac chipper shredder on Craigslist is work. It's not a bad process if you go in knowing what to look for and what to ignore. The machines are built solidly. A well-maintained Mac will outlast three or four owners. A neglected one is a money pit. The difference between those two outcomes usually comes down to how carefully you inspected the PTO, the rotor, the knives, and the hydraulic feed system before you wrote the check.
